Well over a million British men died in the fighting of the First World War of 1914-18, almost all buried close to where they fell on the battlefield. The war formally ended in June 1919 and a victory parade was planned to be held in London the following month. As part of the event, a temporary memorial to the fallen, designed by the noted architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, was erected here in Whitehall. It was named the ‘Cenotaph’, from the Greek words for ‘empty tomb’.

The Cenotaph struck a chord with the public and within days over a million people came to visit the memorial, many laying wreaths. It was then decided to make it a permanent memorial, for which it was rebuilt in Portland Stone. It was unveiled by King George V on Armistice Day, 11th November 1920, the second anniversary of the ending of fighting. On the same day, the body of an unidentified serviceman – the ‘Unknown Soldier’ – was brought to London from where he fell in France, to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Every year since then a major memorial event is held here at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day, or the nearest Sunday, to honour British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who have died in conflict, attended by the Royal Family.